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The Chicago Bulls Should Start Doug McDermott

By Jeremy Karll

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The Chicago Bulls had their media day and training camp is about to begin before they start preseason play on October 6 against the Milwaukee Bucks. The regular season doesn’t start until Oct. 27 however, as Chicago hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers to begin the season.

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There were already questions about Chicago’s starting lineup before a couple of days ago. The big question was, who would start down low for the Bulls since Joakim Noah is coming off a disappointing 2014-15 season?

Now, there is a bigger question, as Mike Dunleavy is expected to miss the first month of the season after having back surgery. Dunleavy’s injury leads to yet another question; who should start at small forward?

It would make sense to start Tony Snell since he has more experience and has started 34 games throughout his two NBA seasons. But, I think that’s not who the Bulls should look too. Starting Doug McDermott after he appeared in just 36 games during his rookie season may raise some eyebrows, but it’s the right move.

Snell has a lot of room to improve and the potential is there for him to become an even bigger part of the Bulls rotation. Chicago has an idea of the type of player and role he’ll have in the future, but not as much when it comes to McDermott. It doesn’t seem like Snell will ever develop into more than a bench player for the Bulls, but it’s hard to know what to think of McDermott, who rarely played during his rookie season.

McDermott likely won’t become the next Kyle Korver, and may only be a bench player in the future, but it would be better to find that out now than later. If he plays like he did last season, then McDermott could be without a job following this season. He didn’t play well on either side of the ball and Chicago is starting to wonder why they traded for him on draft night.

Despite not playing well, the Bulls still need to give McDermott a chance at the beginning of the year and see if he can be a solid rotational player this season. Last season, he didn’t get consistent playing time after missing most of the year with injuries. The little amount of playing time proved to be a big factor into how well McDermott shot the ball.

As McDermott saw more minutes he was able to find a groove and started shooting better. During the 20 games McDermott played 0-9 minutes, he only shot 22.7 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from three. When playing 10-19 minutes, McDermott was able to shoot 43.3 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from behind the arc during 13 games.

His most impressive shooting happened when McDermott played 20 or more minutes. He was able to shoot 48.0 percent from the field and an impressive 38.5 percent from behind the arc, despite it only being three games.

When given time for him to find his shot and get into a groove, McDermott proved that he could shoot the ball effectively. He also rebounded the ball at a more efficient rate, averaging 5.7 rebounds per game when seeing 20 or more minutes, and his plus and minus was up to +16.1.

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    • Fred Hoiberg is an offensive minded coach which should benefit McDermott’s game, and McDermott’s game should also fit perfectly into his system.

    In college, McDermott proved he could score anywhere on the court, which was a big reason the Bulls wanted him so badly. While his defense is nothing special, his offensive potential is special enough to see what he can do at the NBA level. Chicago will also never know what he’s capable of if he is on the bench every game playing 15 minutes a game.

    So, in a way, Dunleavy’s injury is a blessing in disguise. His presence will be missed a lot more than people think, but this gives McDermott a chance that would not have happened without an injury. Chicago knows what they have in Tony Snell, but this is McDermott’s chance to prove why the Bulls are trusting him as the backup small forward.

    It might lose you a couple of games but at the end of the day, the extra minutes for McDermott is a lot more important than a couple of wins. Starting McDermott to try to help speed up his development and to see what they have in their second-year player will show a change in the Bulls. It shows that they’re more worried about the postseason and are no longer trying to win the regular season.

    Next: Bulls Media Day: Five Takeaways

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